Pittsburgh Eyes New Ideas on Job Development

How can the Pittsburgh region create more jobs? Economic development research suggests that two factors are essential: innovation (creating new ideas), and entrepreneurship (turning ideas into new companies or using them to renew existing companies). Without entrepreneurship, innovation won't create many jobs. Without innovation, entrepreneurs can't build major businesses. Regions need both to be successful.

It's not a new concept for Pittsburgh. Companies such as Alcoa, Heinz, PPG, U.S. Steel and Westinghouse were started here a century ago by such entrepreneurs as Andrew Carnegie, John Ford, H. J. Heinz, Alfred Hunt and George Westinghouse, using technologies invented or perfected here. Newer companies such as FedEx Ground, Medrad and Respironics did the same thing. In fact, most of the largest employers in the Pittsburgh region today didn't move here, they started here.

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